


As The Sea Meets The Shore

by orphan_account



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Angst, Background Drarry, Beach Holidays, Beach House, Bicycles, Coming of Age, Domestic, Drunken Confessions, Falling In Love, Family Bonding, Family Drama, Family Feels, First Kiss, First Love, Frottage, HP: EWE, Harry Potter Cant Handle His Alcohol, Harry Potter Next Generation, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Secret Relationship, Self-Discovery, Sex In A Cave, Sharing a Bed, Step-Sibling Incest, background jeddy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-03-03
Packaged: 2019-03-26 15:09:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13860312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Summer love is supposed to be fierce and finite, but Albus isn't sure he can walk away from what he's found in a French seaside cottage.





	As The Sea Meets The Shore

**Author's Note:**

> So this story was born out of me being mildly obsessed with the aesthetic writing rn, and a conversation about the struggles of wanting both Scorbus and Drarry. I was mildly curious how they would deal with being raised as step-brothers and still falling for each other. Also can we all appreciate the fact there is a sex in a cave tag?!?
> 
> This is different to my usual writing for stated reasons and I hope you enjoy it anyway <3
> 
> All the love to Aibidil for being a fantastic and speedy beta xxxx

Albus didn’t say anything as he watched the sea rushing towards the shore, raking up the sand as it went and dumping it back down.

The place should be beautiful, he thought with a tinge of bitterness—because it wasn’t.

The sand was abrasive against his bare feet, and the breeze did little to his sticky clothes to offer any comfort. He could hear Lily and James whooping in the house and he knew he didn’t have long before they came sprinting out, sending sand flying and disrupting his moment of peace.

He let his eyes flutter shut and tried to tune out Draco’s drawl because Albus didn’t want to think about Draco right now. He wanted Draco to vanish from his life and for his mum to come back.

It was a pipe dream, and a cracked one at that — Draco had been in Albus’s life since he was eight, and he knew that his dad was happy. He knew that his dad loved Draco Malfoy with every inch of his being, but in that moment Albus hated Draco for it.

Weren’t parents supposed to put their kids’ needs first?

Was it unfair to ask his dad to walk away from his husband because Albus had fallen irrevocably in love with his best friend, who happened to be his brother?  _ Stepbrother _ , he corrected himself mentally, as if it made things any better.

He knew it did  _ technically _ make things better _ ,  _ but that felt meaningless in the moment as he stared out at the sea. Harry called Scorpius  _ son _ . James referred to both Albus and Scorpius as his brothers. Albus was supposed to think of Scorpius as his brother but he… he couldn’t.

He could hear his dad laughing and he was sure Draco was making disparaging remarks about the cottage Harry had picked out. The main fault with the cottage, in Albus’s opinion, being the fact that there weren’t enough rooms for them, which led to the reason why Albus was standing here debating drowning himself in the Channel.

“Scorp and Al can just share,” Harry had said, winding his arms around Draco’s waist and resting his head atop his shoulder. “Can’t you, boys?”

“Of course,” Scorpius had said, not bothering to look up from his book, because to him it meant nothing.

“Or I can just share with James?” Albus had said, the words falling from his lips as he implored his dad and Draco not to force him to share with Scorpius.

“Fuck off,” James had scoffed, before Harry turned around to scold him for his language.

Albus had taken the argument as an opportunity to slink out of the house because he knew when an argument was lost. He hadn’t been able to stay any longer, in case Scorpius tried to question why Albus didn’t want to share with him.

It wasn’t personal, except it was. And sometimes looking at Scorpius hurt.

Really hurt, in a way that made Albus’s chest tight — like he couldn’t breathe. Scorpius made him feel like he couldn’t breathe. His thoughts couldn’t do the situation justice.

Albus had begged his mum for an excuse not to attend, but she was travelling with the Harpies to coach them at a match in Australia, and she had rejected his pleas to come with her. Apparently, she hadn’t believed that he’d suddenly, at sixteen, decided to care about Quidditch.

He considered going to stay with his grandma and grandpa, but then Harry  confronted him about it — asked him why he didn’t want to come with them to France — and Albus had been forced to concede.

“Because I think I love Scorpius,” wasn’t the answer his dad was looking for.

Albus shrugged and muttered about being too old for family holidays. His heart twinged as he watched his dad’s face struggling with it before settling into a scowl and telling Albus he had no choice.

Albus knew he had no choice as soon as the conversation started, but it still pissed him off to hear that.

He’d yelled at his dad about a lack of mutual respect before storming upstairs and slamming his bedroom door. He’d heard his dad’s exasperated shouts behind him and then the soothing sound of Draco’s voice, calming Harry down.

That had just pissed Albus off more and he’d kicked the door for luck. Draco fucking Malfoy.

“Al.”

Albus didn’t want to turn around from looking at the water to see Scorpius, because he knew that Scorpius was dressed in that loose cotton shirt — it was pale blue and slightly too big and Scorpius had unbuttoned it on the car journey here (Albus blamed his dad for insisting they  _ drive  _ and forcing Albus to endure that journey) and Albus had been forced to stare blankly out of the window otherwise his eyes would start wandering taking in the sharp line of Scorpius’s collar bones and the smooth skin of his chest.

“Al,” Scorpius said again.

“Hey,” Albus said, keeping his gaze focused on the sea.

“You okay?” Scorpius said, and Albus knew without looking that he was shifting his weight from foot to foot.

“Yeah,” Albus said, finally letting himself glance over at Scorpius. Scorpius’s white hair fell over his face and he was smiling at the sea, his hands in his pockets. “You?”

“Yeah,” Scorpius echoed. “I dunno, there’s just something about the beach that makes me feel at home, you know. Makes me think of Mum’s house in Cornwall.”

Albus tried not to think of Astoria’s house and the way it opened out onto the beach. He didn’t want to think of lazy nights with Scorpius around a campfire, the heat scalding their faces as they roasted marshmallows.

It had been easier when Scorpius was just his best friend, his brother-from-another-mother instead of this— this  _ thing  _ that Albus couldn’t put words to. Because how was he meant to put words to it?

Scorpius had been his everything for so long. The second they had been introduced when his dad and Draco started hanging out, they bonded and they became inseparable. They shared a dorm together at school and were joined at the hip at home. And now Albus had to ruin it all.

“I get you,” Albus said, stepping forward and letting the water lap at his toes. “It’s pretty.”

“Yeah,” Scorpius said, following Albus into the water. “Dad said it’s a ten-minute walk into the village nearby, and that we can rent bikes and explore if we want.”

“Can you ride a bike?” Albus asked, raising an eyebrow and running a hand through his hair.

Scorpius paused. “No, but I can’t imagine it’s harder than riding a broom.”

“A broom is not balancing on two wheels, Scorp,” Albus said, laughing despite it all.

“Oh,” Scorpius frowned. “Well, you’ll teach me, right?”

“You can’t even ride a broom.”

“Neither can you, yet you’re saying you can ride a bike! Please, Al!”

“Scorp,” Albus tried before making the fatal mistake of glancing over and catching sight of Scorpius with his bottom lip caught between his teeth and his eyes wide and earnest. He had his mum’s pale blue eyes and Albus liked the depth of them. He wished he was more poetic so he could do them better justice. “Fine,” Albus sighed, rolling his eyes. “I will  _ try  _ and teach you to ride a bike, but I hope you know I know that you’re only doing it because you’ve watched too many of those ‘aesthetic Muggle films’,” he said, smirking as Scorpius bumped his shoulder for his use of quotation marks.

“It’s not,” Scorpius mumbled, but there he was in his cotton shirt with his Magical camera hanging around his neck. “I think it’s a valuable life skill.”

“It’s not,” Albus said, moving out the way before Scorpius could deliberately bump him again.

“But it’ll be fun?”

Albus swallowed, pausing at the question in Scorpius’s tone, because of course it would be fun. It was Scorpius. It was  _ them _ . It was just everything between them was too much for Albus right now, and when Scorpius looked at him like that he felt like his heart was going to cave in on itself. And Scorpius had no fucking idea.

“Of course it’ll be fun,” Albus said, his voice coming out less assured than he would have liked.

“Al,” Scorpius started, but before he could say anything, James’s shout sounded from the house and then he was legging it towards them at full speed. “Camera,” Scorpius squeaked in warning, but Scorpius had never been James’s target anyway.

“Don’t you fucking dare!” Albus groaned, trying to dodge out of the way of his brother, but James was faster and stronger than him and within moments, Albus found himself tackled into the water. He could hear Scorpius’s laughter and the click of his camera, and Albus tried to push all of it from his mind as he focused on trying to dunk James under the water.

Albus emerged, and managed to keep his head above water. He could survive this trip. He hoped _. _

***

Albus’s clothes clung to his body as he stared around the room that he was going to be spending the next two weeks in.

There was nothing particularly remarkable about it, with its pale blue walls and wooden floor. There was a bookshelf in the corner overflowing with fishing books and on the sink in the corner there was a miniature yacht figurine.

Albus only had one protest about the room: in the centre, with its white frame and crisp white sheets was… was a double bed.

“Dad!” Albus spluttered, dropping his bag onto the floor.

“Yeah?” Harry asked, pausing, his bags hovering beside him (Albus constantly resented not being allowed to use magic outside of school) as he moved his stuff into his and Draco’s room that was just next door. “What’s up?”

Harry’s hair stuck up at peculiar angles from the sea’s salt, and was curling at the ends — Albus was sure when he checked the mirror his would be doing the same — and he was grinning. He was grinning the same stupid smile that he’d been grinning since they’d arrived.

“It’s a double bed!”

“Yeah?” Harry frowned, leaning against the doorway. “I figured you and Scorp could share, you always used to as kids.”

“We were eight! I’m sixteen now!”

Harry rubbed the back of his head. “I can try to Transfigure it if you want, but I can’t guarantee it won’t turn back in the middle of the night?”

“So you can take down Riddle but you can’t manage to Transfigure a double bed?” Albus sneered, the words falling from his lips before he could stop them. He wanted to apologise but the word  _ sorry  _ got stuck in his chest as he stared at his dad’s wounded face.

“We all have our limitations,” Harry said finally, his shoulders slumping. “Look, if you really don’t want to share with your brother you can sleep on the floor or the sofa.”

_ He’s not my brother _ , Albus wanted to scream but he didn’t dare.

Albus shoved his hands into his pockets and stormed over to the window, choosing to stare out at the sea instead of his dad. He could see James and Lily jumping around in the water, and Draco and Scorpius chatting, their white heads bent together, glinting in the afternoon sun.

He knew his dad was staring at him, trying and failing to find the words to say. Albus didn’t move from the window even after Harry sighed and wandered out of the room, the floorboards creaking under his weight.

He didn’t mean to blame his dad, but if he hadn’t married Draco none of this would have happened. Albus would be free to fall for Scorpius without there being something  _ wrong  _ about it.  _ Step brother _ —  _ best friend  _ —  _ lover _ . One of them didn’t fit, and Albus knew he just had to accept that and move on — he just couldn’t seem to do so.

Albus knew he was being unfair. He loved his dad, and he really liked Draco. Draco was like a second dad to him, after dating his own dad since Albus was eight. He helped him with homework and he’d been able to support Albus being sorted Slytherin in a way that none of Albus’s biological family had.

Draco taught Albus how to play chess, and recommended him books. He was the voice of reason whenever Albus and his dad went head to head.

However, he was also Scorpius’s dad, and because of Draco, Scorpius was Albus’s stepbrother, and Albus hated him for it.

Of course, without Draco, maybe he wouldn’t have been able to get to know Scorpius in the way he had, but it would always be tainted for it…

He waited a moment longer before turning to start unpacking his stuff into the chest of drawers beside Scorpius’s stuff. His cotton button-down shirts, tees and swim shorts.

Albus ran his fingers along the blue Ralph Lauren swimming trunks that Pansy had brought Scorpius for his birthday. She’d bought Albus a pair in pink.

He tried not to think of Scorpius in the shorts and the fact that he would be naked, just miles of his pale skin. Albus could picture them on Scorpius vividly, the way they would hang and how they’d probably bunch up as they cycled around exploring. He closed his eyes, letting himself see Scorpius wet after swimming in the sea, lying on the sand with his hair falling over his face and his chest glinting. He could see his own fingers roaming Scorpius’s chest, tracing the water drops lower and lower as his fingers dipped into the waistband and—

“Al.”

Albus jerked back from the chest of drawers as if it had personally burnt him.

Scorpius’s eyebrows shot up and he cocked his head to the side. “You okay?”

Albus nodded, trying to look as if he hadn’t just been fantasising about Scorpius in swim trunks… namely, about what was under the swim trunks.

Scorpius’s blue shirt was completely unbuttoned now, and hung at his sides. His hair was tousled from the sea and it managed to look artful instead of like Albus’s messy mop. There was already a pink tinge to Scorpius’s cheeks and chest, even after just an hour in the sun.

“You sure? You’ve been funny this whole trip so far,” Scorpius said, balancing on the edge of their bed, turning his camera over in his hands. There was sand stuck to the soles of his feet.

“We’ve only been here an hour.”

“You were funny in the buildup and on the journey — that’s over an hour.”

“Sorry, I—” Albus shrugged. “I’m just in a bit of a weird mood.”

“Want to talk about it?”

Albus desperately wanted to tell Scorpius that he spent every waking minute burning because he wanted him so much. He felt like he had consumed liquid fire whenever Scorpius smiled at him, and everytime Scorpius touched him he could feel the ghost of it long after Scorpius had moved away. And in his dreams, Scorpius didn’t move away. In Albus’s dreams, they could move as one without shame.

“Nothing to say, really,” Albus shrugged again, because he couldn’t really tell Scorpius any of that.

“Okay,” Scorpius said, gazing down at his camera, his hair falling over his face. Draco was badgering Scorpius to get it cut, but Albus loved it long. It made him want to run his fingers through it — on second thought, perhaps Draco was onto something. “You’re not pissed at me, though, right?” Scorpius glanced up, his lip caught between his teeth. “Cause you’ve been off with me for ages and I keep worrying I’ve done something, but I can’t figure out what it could possibly be and I really hate this,” he gestured between them. “I hate feeling not close to you, and I can’t spend the next two weeks like this.”

Albus swallowed, feeling like a shit friend. He’d let his own feelings for Scorpius lead to pushing him away, and that wasn’t fair. It wasn’t Scorpius’s fault that Albus’s heart was fucked up.

“I’m sorry, it’s not you,” Albus promised, shuffling over and dropping down onto the bed beside Scorpius. He lay back, staring at the ceiling and admiring the long crack in the paint. He imagined Draco was fuming at Harry about the house, but there was something to it that Albus liked, despite everything. It had character.

“Then what is it?” Scorpius asked, lying down beside Albus so their sides were flush together. Albus tried not to focus too much on the feeling of Scorpius’s skin, on the tickle of his leg hair and the touch of his fingers against Albus’s.

He could feel Scorpius’s gaze on him and Albus slowly turned his head, taking in Scorpius’s dark eyelashes, the almost invisible freckles across his cheeks and his pale pink lips. Albus wanted to reach over and smooth out the furrow of Scorpius’s brow, but he didn’t dare.

“I don’t know,” he lied. “Think I’m nervous about O.W.L. results.”

“You don’t need to be,” Scorpius said, the furrow deepening, which wasn’t what Albus had wanted. “You’ll have smashed it.”

“No,  _ you’ll  _ have smashed it.”

“We’ll both have smashed it,” Scorpius said, his mouth curving in a half smile and Albus let himself smile too. “Now will you stop moping and come exploring with me? Dad said there’s a set of caves not too far from here we could go check out.”

Albus nodded. “Shall we invite James and Lil?”

Scorpius’s smile slipped for a moment before reappearing again, quick enough that Albus didn’t dwell on it. “Yeah, sure.”

“Awesome,” Albus said, even though he didn’t feel it.

“Awesome,” Scorpius echoed.

***

“And then Albus fell into the rock pool and nearly drowned but I jumped in and saved his life,” James said, dinner forgotten as he leaned forward, dramatically retelling their adventures in the caves.

“Why do I get the feeling that you pushed him into the pool?” Draco drawled, waving his wand and causing the bottle of wine to fill all their glasses.

Albus spotted his dad’s amused face as Draco refilled his and Scorpius’s wine glasses, but luckily Harry didn’t protest. Lily had tried a sip of wine and declared it disgusting.

Draco had rolled his eyes and proclaimed her father’s daughter, and Harry had beamed, jokingly asking if Lily wanted a beer instead.

“Because you’re an excellent judge of character?” Albus said. He felt a stab of guilt at the flicker of surprise on Draco’s face before it disappeared, smoothed away into a smile.

“Thank you, Albus. I’ve always said that about myself.”

Maybe he’d been too cruel to Draco recently, taking out too much of his Scorpius pain on his stepfather.

“I didn’t push him in the pool!” James cried.

“You did,” Albus, Scorpius and Lily said in sync.

“Whatever, but I did also save him,” James said, taking a large sip of his drink. “Anyway—”

“You leapt in after me and pushed my head under the water!” Albus said, but James just continued ignoring him.

“Is it true Teddy is coming to stay?”

“Who told you that?” Harry said.

“He did, before we left.”

“He’d said he’d possibly consider stopping by if he can get away from the Auror office for the weekend.”

“You’re his boss, can’t you just let him off work?” James said.

“It doesn’t work like that,” Harry said with a laugh, and before James could say anything else, he’d turned back to Lily and was asking her more about the caves.

Albus watched James lick his lips, his nose wrinkling before he spotted Albus’s eyes on him. James flipped him off and Albus stuck his tongue out back.

They both paused at the polite sound of Draco clearing his throat and shot their stepdad matching innocent smiles.

The evening continued with everyone drinking too much French wine as they sat at the table on the porch that overlooked the sea. It was beautiful watching the sun slowly set, turning the sea pink in the dimming light.

They ate slowly, picking at the cheese, bread and meats that Draco and Harry had bought from the shops while they’d been exploring. Albus felt some of the tension he had been carrying around since they arrived slipping away as they laughed together. Perhaps he could survive this after all.

Draco had brought the record player that had been his birthday gift from Harry and it was set up on the bench playing songs that Harry and Draco called classics, but that Albus struggled to remember the names of.

Once the music turned slower and softer, James jumped to his feet, offering his hand to Lily and the two of them began mock-ballroom dancing across the porch, Draco lazily calling out instructions.

“Why don’t you show them how it’s done, if you’re so good?” Harry said, his face then becoming terrified as Draco stood up, offering him his hand. “That is not what I meant?”

“Scared, Potter?” Draco teased, and Albus’s heart hurt because they really fucking loved each other. He wanted what they had. He wanted someone who knew him inside out and who loved him anyway. Someone he could communicate with without saying a word.

“Do you want to dance too?” Scorpius murmured, leaning in close and smiling at Albus, his cheeks flushed from the wine and the sun.

“No,” Albus said, too quickly. He didn’t know where to look.

“Oh,” Scorpius said, sinking back into his chair.

“We could go for a walk though?” Albus suggested, because he wanted to get away and Scorpius wouldn’t demand that he speak if he didn’t want to.

“I’d like that,” Scorpius said, the smile growing on his face again. “We’re going to go for a walk,” Scorpius said, jumping to his feet. He was in another cotton shirt that was unbuttoned low down his chest.

“Okay,” Harry called back, his face alight as Draco tried to spin him around, instructing James to do the same for Lily.

They wandered off down the beach, sand slipping between their toes until the laughter of their family faded and they were left only with the sound of the sea.

Scorpius had his camera out again, snapping pictures of the orange-streaked sky, trying to catch the final flashes of light before they faded for the night.

Albus watched him and the way the evening breeze ruffled the hair on the nape of his neck.

Scorpius turned and the camera flashed in Albus’s face, causing Albus to groan, hiding his face with his hands. “Go away.”

“You look good!” Scorpius said, prying Albus’s hands away from his face, his long fingers wrapping around Albus’s wrists. “Your eyes look really good in the light.” Albus raised his eyebrows, not wanting Scorpius to let go. “Trust me.”

Albus laughed, but when Scorpius eventually let go of his wrists, his buried his hands in the sand instead of covering his face. When Scorpius raised the camera again he couldn’t help but grimace.

“Smile!”

“I can’t just force it!”

Scorpius laughed, and Scorpius’s laugh was so infectious that the corners of Albus’s mouth curled up despite themselves and he groaned as the flash went off again. He tried to scowl at Scorpius but he couldn’t, because Scorpius was grinning at him, and Albus’s heart was soaring.

“Should we head back?” Scorpius said.

Albus glanced over his shoulder in the direction of the cottage. He rolled his eyes at the flash of the camera again, but didn’t say anything about it. He secretly liked the fact Scorpius wanted to take photos of him. It made him feel special and even though he knew it wasn’t true, he liked to pretend that Scorpius was doing it because he liked looking at Albus in the same way Albus liked looking at him.

“Let’s stay here a bit longer,” Albus said, turning back to Scorpius.

“Okay,” Scorpius said, raising his camera again before lowering it as Albus flipped him off. “We’ll head back in a bit.”

“Yeah.”

***

Albus wished they could have stayed on the shore forever, but eventually it had got dark and his dad’s stag had appeared, asking where they were at. Albus wasn’t quite sure it was legal to send a Patronus along a stretch of Muggle beach, even if it was secluded, but his dad was the Head Auror so he was hardly going to arrest himself.

When Albus pointed that out after their return, Harry pointed out that perhaps if they had brought their phones with them, Harry wouldn’t have had to resort to breaking the law. Albus would give his dad that one.

Albus got into the shower. He tilted his head back, letting the water run down his face as he washed the salt, sand and sun cream from his skin before bed.

Bed.

Where he would be forced to lie next to Scorpius for the entire night and somehow not think about him. Act as if nothing was wrong, as if his mind wasn’t filled with filthy fantasies of the two of them rolling in the sheets as the sea breeze floated through the window, cooling their sweaty skin.

Albus hadn’t done much with boys aside from that hand job with Matty Thomas-Finnigan, which was, to be fair, more than he’d done with girls. He’d kissed a couple and he’d felt up Lucy Bones’s tits. Albus wasn’t quite sure about his sexuality.

He knew his dad was bisexual and Draco was gay, but he wasn’t sure if he technically counted as either. He leant more towards boys, but he liked girls, too. At least, he thought he did. He wasn’t sure how anyone ever figured this stuff out.

When he saw girls in the magaznes older years showd him in Slytherin, he could feel his cock stir, but none of them held a candle to picturing some of the men from the Quidditch magazines — or Scorpius.

Scorpius with his long legs and soft smile. His white hair and blue eyes, and the way that Albus felt like he could do anything if Scorpius was at his side.

“Albus, get the fuck out of the shower!” James yelled, banging on the door, causing Albus to rip his hand away from his cock. He hadn’t even meant to start wanking. “And make sure you clean up your bloody spunk!”

“James!” Albus squeaked, nearly slipping over in his panic. “What the fuck?”

“Watch your fucking language, both of you,” came Harry’s voice, slightly slurred from the wine; Albus could hear the amusement in it and his cheeks grew dark, even if no one could see him.

“Stellar parenting, Harry,” Draco drawled, and was the whole family around listening to James’s proclamations about Albus wanking?

Albus jumped out of the shower, wrapping his towel around his waist, and yanked open the door to find a smirking James.

“I wasn’t wanking,” Albus hissed, poking his finger into James’s chest and glowering up at him. It would eternally drive him insane that James was a couple of inches taller than him.

“Whatever you say,” James leered before slipping into the bathroom.

Albus hated him sometimes.

He walked across the corridor, dodging out of the way of Lily, who gave him a look far too knowing for a fourteen-year-old girl, before banging on the door shouting at James to hurry up.

It was ridiculous, in Albus’s opinion, that the four of them were expected to share one bathroom while Harry and Draco got an en suite, but Lily had tried voicing her protests earlier only to be shot down. Her argument of  _ “I’m the only girl, please don’t make me share with three smelly boys” _ had nearly won Harry and Draco over, before decided they didn’t want their daughter prancing in and out of their room to use their bathroom whenever she fancied.

Albus didn’t want to think about  _ why  _ that might be.

“Forgot my PJs,” Albus said awkwardly as shuffled into his room, still only the towel wrapped around his waist.

Scorpius was sprawled on the bed, his long legs on display in the simple pair of grey boxers he was wearing. He was in a plain white tee that was bunched up, exposing his hip bones, and Albus had to adjust his towel because he was still semi-hard. (James, thankfully, had done a decent job of deflating his boner).

Scorpius didn’t look up from his book as he mumbled, “Okay.” Albus nodded to himself before hurrying over to the chest of drawers and slipping on a clean pair of black boxers and one of his Slytherin tees.

He turned around and Scorpius was still staring at his book, his cheeks red.

“You need to remember to top up your suncream,” Albus said, climbing onto the bed and lying as far from Scorpius as possible.

“It’d be easier if we could use charms,” Scorpius mumbled, rubbing his cheeks with his palm.

“Fair,” Albus said, pulling the sheet over himself. It made him feel less exposed. “Try not to get more burnt tomorrow.”

“I’ll try,” Scorpius said, rolling over so he was facing Albus. “Not all of us are born with golden skin.”

“Golden?” Albus snorted. “You’re just bizarrely pale.”

“Bizarrely?”

“No, like…” Albus didn’t want to say that Scorpius’s skin was like fresh snow, but it was the only thing in his head. “You’re just very pale, not great for the sun.”

Scorpius raised an eyebrow, reaching his hand out and laying his fingers across Albus’s skin. Albus’s breath faltered as Scorpius traced his fingers up and down Albus’s arm, smiling faintly.

“I’ll be more tan than you by the end,” Scorpius teased.

“If you say so,” Albus said, not daring to turn his whole body to face Scorpius.

Scorpius grinned at him, a crooked smile as he tangled his legs into the sheets. “Promise you’ll teach me to ride a bike tomorrow?”

“Promise.”

“We can cycle to the town and get ice cream. French ice cream is amazing.”

“Or we could could get a crêpe?”

“We can do anything we want,” Scorpius breathed, and lying there facing each other, Albus let himself believe it.

He couldn’t have everything he wanted, and he couldn’t have Scorpius the way he wanted him, but in that moment, having Scorpius in any way was enough for Albus.

“Anything,” Albus echoed, smiling at Scorpius and trying not to drown with how in love he felt. His eyes traced Scorpius’s features as Scorpius smiled at him, and he let himself believe Scorpius’s gaze meant more than it did. He was probably hurting himself more by doing that, but he welcomed it.

“Anything,” Scorpius said, and Albus laughed, letting the moment pass.

He rolled over and tugged the sheets tight around him. “Turn the light off, will you?”

There was a pause before Scorpius said yes, and Albus listened to the soft pad of his feet across the floor. He felt the bed shift under Scorpius’s weight and counted to ten in his head before murmuring “night” and frowning as Scorpius mumbled it back.

Albus didn’t fight when sleep came, because in his dreams he didn’t fall asleep on the opposite side of the bed from Scorpius, but with Scorpius in his arms.

***

The next few days passed in a blur of sea, wind and sand.

Albus tried to teach Scorpius to ride a bike to no avail, and in the end Harry ended up spelling the bike so that it couldn’t fall over. Scorpius had a magical tricycle of his own.

Scorpius didn’t care though, if the smile painted on his face as they rode through the back alleys of the small towns and across country, past the fields with long green stems that danced in the wind. Albus followed Scorpius, the pair of them getting lost more than once as they cycled till their legs hurt and their arses ached.

Then they’d settle in an at ice cream bar in one of the towns, picking new flavours every day and testing out their limited French.

Scorpius was better than Albus because he’d holidayed in France a few times with his dad and grandparents over the years, and Albus loved the way Scorpius’s tongue curled around the words, lilting and soft as he mimicked the accent.

He loved the spark in Scorpius’s eye and the apostrophe of a smile that curled at his mouth as he tried to help Albus learn French. Simple things like please and thank you, and the ice cream flavours they both liked. The way Scorpius sounded out each syllable and letter, laughing as Albus’s own mouth failed to make the right sounds, fumbling the pronunciation. Scorpius never stopped trying to help, though.

Albus tried not to burn up whenever he applied sun cream to Scorpius's back on their solo day trips, letting his fingers press into Scorpius’s skin, tracing across the lithe muscles, the curve of his shoulders and the hollow of his shoulder blades. He lost himself in the touch, even letting himself believe for a moment that Scorpius had shivered. If it hadn’t been Albus’s imagination, it would have been the coolness of the suncream.

“We’re driving over to the old town tonight for dinner,” Harry said, the morning of the fifth day at breakfast. “Which means I’d appreciate it if you were all back here by four to get ready.”

“Aren’t all the towns old?” asked Lily, shoving her tennis stuff into a bag. Lily and James had discovered a tennis court just a ten-minute cycle away and had taken up going there to play. Albus wasn’t sure how good either of them were, but they were certainly both determined and competitive enough to give it a good go.

“This one is especially old,” Harry shrugged, ruffling her hair as he paused in the doorway, two glasses of orange juice in his hand, one for Draco who was already out on the porch, his nose buried in a book.

Albus hadn’t seen his dad this relaxed in years, and he was happy for him. Albus just wished he could bring Scorpius orange juice on the porch and lean down and kiss him, let Scorpius thread his fingers through his hair and deepen the kiss. He wanted all of Scorpius, he wanted everything.

Albus’s eyes drifted back over to where Scorpius and James were laughing on the sofa. Scorpius seemed to sense Albus watching him and paused, a smile still on his face as he held Albus’s gaze and mouthed, “ _ Where to today?” _

“Everywhere,” Albus mouthed back.

They just about made it back in time to shower and get dressed. Scorpius into another one of his cotton shirts and chino shorts. He was gradually leaving less and less of his shirts buttoned as his skin turned from snow white to off-white, and Albus was finding it harder and harder to pry his eyes away.

Albus had tried to walk downstairs in just a white top and had got halfway down before Draco shooed him back upstairs with instructions to borrow a shirt from Scorpius.

“Dad!” Albus had groaned, but his dad had shrugged helplessly from behind Draco. Albus was pretty sure Harry hadn’t bought any of the clothes he was wearing currently, so knew he was going to be no help.

Albus tried not to think about the fact it was Scorpius’s shirt he was wearing as they sat around the dinner table getting more and more drunk because Draco said he’d cast a Sobering Charm before they drove home. Albus tried not to notice the way the shirt smelt or the fact it was slightly too long, slightly too tight at his shoulders.

Albus did his best not to watch Scorpius, glancing away every other time that Scorpius looked at him to laugh at one of James’s jokes, reply to a comment from Lily.

Albus wanted him and the wine only increased his desire as he watched Scorpius’s mouth against his glass or the way his tongue tracked his bottom lip clean. Albus was near desperate by the time Draco had sobered himself up enough to drive them home.

James and Lily sang the whole way home, and Harry giggled, a hand on Draco’s thigh as Draco shot fond smiles at him. Albus barely noticed the rest of his family as he watched Scorpius, watched the way Scorpius watched him back.

“Come for a walk?” Scorpius whispered after they got back to the cottage, from where they were sat on the sofa with legs entangled.

Albus nodded, waving goodbye to the rest of the family as he followed Scorpius out of the door. The two of them wandered along the shore, the water lapping at their toes and the warm night still.

“Where are you?” Albus asked, tilting his head back and staring at the stars. Draco had tried to teach him when he’d first moved in with Harry, but Albus had never been able to get the hang of it.

“I’m here?”

Albus laughed. “I meant in the sky.”

“Oh,” Scorpius said softly. “Well, I’m,” he frowned. “I’m just there.”

“Where?”

“There.”

“I still can’t see it,” Albus laughed again, squinting.

“Honestly,” Scorpius sighed, and then he was pressed flush against Albus’s back, hand sliding along Albus’s arm and raising it. “Just there.”

“Oh,” Albus said, even though he couldn’t see anything. Scorpius’s huff of laughter told him that Scorpius saw through his lie.

The wine had made him too loose and he felt his body caving, slumping against the firm press of Scorpius’s chest.

“Al,” Scorpius whispered, his hand resting on Albus’s hip. “Al, tell me I’m not imagining it all.”

“What?” Albus said, turning so they were nose to nose and if Albus squinted he could count every eyelash.

“I—” Scorpius’s cheeks were already pink from the sun and alcohol, but they darkened further. “You watch me. I see you watching me.”

Albus stumbled backwards, his breath catching in his throat. His whole body screaming at him to run as his face burnt. He had never meant to be caught out. “I’m sorry,” Albus said, “I don’t mean to.”

“No!” Scorpius said, shaking his head. “I see you watching me because— because—” he licked his lips, “because I’m watching you too.”

“Watching me, as in….”

“Yeah.”

Albus curled his toes into the sand, his mouth dry. “You’re saying that you…” He trailed off unable again to finish his sentence.

“I don’t mean to and I’d never have said anything, but I think I drank too much and I— I— I’m so sure you feel the same way.”

Albus swallowed, because he did. He did feel the same way, but he couldn’t confess it. The  _ same _ .

He opened his mouth before shutting it and shaking his head. “It’s definitely the wine, because we shouldn’t feel this way.”

Something flickered across Scorpius’s face. “I know.”

“But I do,” Albus said, watching his feet move in the sand. “I do feel the same way.”

He glanced up to see Scorpius smiling at him, that crooked smile that he often reserved just for Albus. “Wow.”

“Wow,” Albus echoed as Scorpius stepped closer to him.

“We should ignore it, shouldn’t we? I mean, we’re…” Scorpius didn’t let himself say the words.  _ Stepbrothers _ . “We should pretend nothing has changed, it’s the right thing to do. It would be hard, but we could manage it, I reckon so. We hid it this long, right? We could just brush it under the rug?”

Albus nodded because that was the right thing to do. “I don’t want to do that.”

“Thank fuck,” Scorpius whispered, and Albus felt that final constraint around his heart give way and he let the wine and his feelings guide him forward, leaning up and sliding his fingers into Scorpius’s hair. Scorpius let out a soft breath.

“What if we say just while we’re in France?” Albus said, because as much as he didn’t want to taste Scorpius once and then never again, the thought of not having him at all was too much to bear. “While we’re here, we can be free to be us. These moments, they could be just for us?”

“And when we’re back in England, we go back to being who we’re meant to be?” Scorpius said, worrying his bottom lip again.

Albus nodded, and it hurt, but this was everything he had been dreaming of. Scorpius was just within his reach. “Yeah.”

Scorpius swallowed. “Okay.”

“Okay,” Albus said, a laugh falling from his lips at the ludicrousness of the situation.

“I always want to kiss you when you laugh,” Scorpius said, before looking like he regretted it.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Albus heart was beating faster than was probably healthy but he didn’t care because… “You can, if you want to, you know, kiss me.”

“Oh,” Scorpius said softly before smiling, his hands cupping Albus’s face. “Yeah, I want to.”

Albus stared up at him, tugging playfully on Scorpius’s hair when Scorpius didn’t move because Albus couldn’t make the first move. His palms were sweaty and he was pretty sure he was about to pass out, because he was about to kiss Scorpius.

“I’ve never kissed anyone,” Scorpius said finally.

This time it was Albus’s turn to say, “Oh.” He would be Scorpius’s first kiss. This filthy, wrong thing would be Scorpius’s first kiss, and Albus knew that Scorpius deserved better but he couldn’t bring himself to step back. “It’s not so hard.”

“Will you show me?”

A wave crashed against the shore, soaking Albus’s feet, and he nodded. “Yeah.”

He leaned up, pulling gently on the nape of Scorpius’s neck to get him to bend his head down. Their noses bumped and Scorpius’s mouth was too tense at first, too unmoving, but Albus went slow, coaxing movement out of Scorpius.

He was sure Scorpius would be able to feel his pulse fluttering, because Scorpius tasted like chocolate ice cream, and he still smelt of coconut suncream. His lips were wet and his hair tickled Albus’s forehead, but it was the best kiss of all time, in Albus’s opinion, as they stood there on the beach, away from all prying eyes, finally able to become one.

***

Albus woke before Scorpius, his head throbbing in time with sound of the waves hitting the shore.

He took the moment to stare, unabashedly, at Scorpius, who was sprawled out across the bed. Albus didn’t want to wake him, couldn’t bring himself to touch him, in case it had all been a dream. He let his fingers hover just a whisper above Scorpius’s face as he ghosted the line of Scorpius’s cheek bone and the swell of his lips. Scorpius was a Malfoy, he was sharp angles and firm features, but in sleep he looked like an angel. His hair spread out like a halo around him.

Albus had dragged Scorpius down into whatever this  _ thing  _ was he had been feeling. He had got too drunk and let himself believe it was okay not just to love Scorpius, but to act on those feelings.

Albus slowly slipped out of bed, his feet hitting the floor. He winced as it creaked under his weight.

Scorpius didn’t stir, so Albus padded over to the window.

The shirt he was wearing was too long and he realised he must have put on Scorpius’s by mistake. He glanced over his shoulder, wondering if Scorpius was in his shirt, but Scorpius’s body was too obscured by the sheet to tell.

It was raining today. The droplets lashed down against the land, preventing Albus from being able to escape. He couldn’t stay in this house all day. He couldn’t talk to his dad, his brother, his sister, Draco without feeling like the confession was written across his face.

_ I kissed Scorpius _ . _ I kissed him on the beach under the stars. It was better than I had ever dreamed and now I cannot imagine stopping. We came back to bed and we kissed in bed. Him over me and I wanted more, because now I’ve kissed him and I will never be satisfied. _

They had taken it slow and despite the fact Albus had been so hard he thought he might die, he hadn’t let it go further. Scorpius had only just kissed him for the first time and it wouldn’t have been fair to do more, no matter how much they both wanted it.

Also, he had been scared. He had been scared that the next morning Scorpius would hate him for it. A kiss could be taken back, maybe.

He turned from the window and tiptoed across the room, grabbing a hoodie from the back of a chair. He’d go downstairs, hope Dad or Draco was up and in possession of hangover potion. He didn’t want to be here when Scorpius woke up in case—

“Al,” Scorpius croaked.

Albus froze, hoodie half over his head. Why was his luck always so bad?

He tugged the hoodie properly on before turning to Scorpius, who was propping himself up on one arm, frowning.

“Morning,” Albus said, his heart in his throat.

“Morning,” Scorpius echoed, chewing his bottom lip.

Albus fidgeted. “I was going to go get some hangover potion, you want some?”

“Urm,” Scorpius said, pushing himself the full way up, still staring at Albus.

_ Don’t _ , Albus wanted to beg. They could pretend nothing had ever happened, but he didn’t want to hear Scorpius end it.

Scorpius’s frown deepened. “Al, shouldn’t we talk about last night?”

Albus shrugged. He had lost the ability to form words.

“Okay,” Scorpius sighed. The sheet was pooled around his lap and he was wearing Albus’s top. Albus liked how it looked and if he could, he would walk over there and take it off, run his hands across Scorpius’s lithe body and learn him. Albus was far from experienced, but he wanted to know every inch of Scorpius’s body, the way he knew Scorpius’s mind. “Thank you,” Scorpius added, breaking Albus out of his fantasy.

“For what?”

Scorpius blushed, playing with the sheet before meeting Albus’s eyes. “For being my first kiss.” Scorpius’s face was free of disgust and his eyes clear.

“Shhhh!” Albus hissed automatically.

“Sorry,” Scorpius said, blush darkening. “If you’d rather—”

“No, I’m sorry,” Albus said quickly, because he didn’t want to sweep it all under the rug but… in the light of day with Scorpius staring at him, he felt like he ought to try… try put this thing behind them because it was… it was wrong. “It was the wine… I shouldn’t have.”

Scorpius’s face fell, and for the first time Albus hated the way that every one of Scorpius’s emotions was painted on his face. Albus’s resolve was weak, anyway, and it was eroding faster than he could cope. “I wanted you to,” Scorpius said.

“You deserved a better first kiss, one that wasn’t with… someone like me.”

“But I wanted  _ you. _ ”

Albus swallowed and shook his head. “You shouldn’t. We shouldn’t.”

Scorpius looked like he was going to cry, and Albus wanted to hug him, wanted to bury his head in the crook of his neck. “I know,” Scorpius said, “but I want to do it again.”

Albus’s breath caught at the resolve in Scorpius’s voice and the last of his attempts to be good, to be correct, crumbled.

Scorpius was all Albus wanted, and if Scorpius wanted him back, why shouldn’t Albus go for it?

He remembered their agreement on the beach. “Just in France?”

“Just in France,” Scorpius said, holding his hand out. He looked terrified, but he didn’t need to be. Albus’s feet were moving before his brain engaged, but it didn’t matter. There was no part of him that really considered doing anything but climbing onto the bed, resting one hand on Scorpius’s thigh and closing the distance and kissing him.

Scorpius let out a soft gasp and Albus began to pull back, but then Scorpius’s hand was knotted in his hoodie.

“Don’t,” Scorpius pleaded and Albus was powerless to do anything but lean back in again.

Scorpius’s breath was slightly sour and Albus imagined his was no better, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was the feel of Scorpius against him.

This kiss was slow, lazy, like they had all the time in the world.

It was easy to forget they didn’t in their bedroom with the rain beating off the window, as the crescendo of a storm rose outside.

Easy to pretend, at least.

Albus traced Scorpius’s bottom lip with his tongue, pulling back when Scorpius froze.

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” Scorpius confessed, burying his head in the crook of Albus’s neck, his lips brushing his skin.

“Me neither,” Albus said, cupping Scorpius’s face and raising his head, “But we’ll figure it out together.”

Scorpius smiled, leaning in again and brushing his lips against Albus’s.

“Boys!”

Albus leapt back, narrowly avoiding falling off the bed at the sound of Draco’s voice.

“Yes, Dad?” Scorpius squeaked.

“Act natural!” Albus mouthed.

“How are you this fine morning?” Scorpius added, sounding like he was speaking to McGonagall, not his dad.

Draco chuckled from behind the door. “I’m fine thank you Scorpius, are you still drunk?”

“No,” Scorpius said, shooting Albus an apologetic look before walking across the floor and opening the bedroom door.

Draco gazed in at them in amusement. “How are you, Albus?”

“Okay,” Albus said, trying to compose his face into an expression that didn’t scream  _ I kissed your son _ .

Draco hummed. “You’re doing better than your father then.”

Albus laughed. “How is Dad?”

“He is moaning in bed, acting like he’s died again,” Draco deadpanned. “And I’ve told him that he doesn’t get his hangover potion until he comes down for breakfast.”

Albus didn’t catch his Dad’s muffled response from the next bedroom, but he gathered it was either rude or pathetic from the smile on Draco’s face.

“The same applies for you, too,” Draco added. “The requirement for hangover potion is joining me for breakfast like civilised people.”

“Okay, Dad.”

“Okay, Draco.”

The shuffling of feet had them all looking up to see Harry appearing in the door, his hair stuck up all over the place and his glasses crooked. Albus laughed. “It didn’t hurt this much the first time I died.”

“Well, this time it’s your own fault,” Draco said, taking Harry’s hand. “Now come on and leave them to get dressed.”

Harry gave them both a weak smile before letting Draco lead him downstairs.

Albus met Scorpius’s gaze. He could see the conflict he felt inside reflected on Scorpius’s face.

They shouldn’t be doing this. It wasn’t fair to their dads.

Albus tugged the sheet around him and gave Scorpius a small smile. Scorpius blew him a kiss before walking over to the chest of drawers to get dressed for breakfast.

Albus watched Scorpius pull off the shirt, finally able to admire the lines of his back without worrying what Scorpius would think.

It was just for a week. All teenagers had experimentation phases. Who would a week hurt, really? Just a week…

***

“I feel bad,” Scorpius sighed, pushing himself out of the rockpool and onto the smooth stone.

“Why?” Albus said, dipping his head back so he could smooth his hair off his face.

“Lily looked really upset when we told her she couldn’t come with us.”

Albus shook his head, swimming over to Scorpius and resting between his legs.

“She’ll get over it,” Albus shrugged. He wasn’t so sure he’d be able to get over Scorpius though. “We’ve only got six more days together, and I want to make the most of it.”

“You’re an awful brother,” Scorpius teased, tucking a strand of Albus’s wet hair behind his ear. It was true in more ways than one. Scorpius was meant to be Albus’s brother.  _ Stepbrother _ . Their dads were married, they had grown up together, and still Albus loved him.

“Maybe.” Albus shrugged again, grinning as he ran his hands up Scorpius’s legs. He could feel Scorpius reacting to his touch and he wanted to bottle the memory, use it in a Pensieve when this was all over. “But I want you so much.”

“Fuck, Al,” Scorpius whispered, leaning forward and kissing Albus again.

Scorpius’s kisses set Albus afire and then soothed him. Scorpius kissed like he lived: earnestly and giving his everything. It wasn’t perfect, but that made it better, because it was real.

The Scorpius of Albus’s fantasies had always been a fantastic kisser, but he hadn’t been real. It had been just that, a fantasy.

This Scorpius’s lips were salty, and his tongue was nervous as he followed Albus’s lead, but he was real. And he let out small whimpers and noises, his hands brushing Albus’s body. He didn’t seem to realise the effect he had on Albus, didn’t seem to realise how amazing every touch was.

“Al,” Scorpius repeated. Albus pulled himself out of the pool, and Scorpius shuffled backwards to allow Albus room between his legs.

The stone was cool beneath his wet body as he smiled at Scorpius, kissing him again. Scorpius let out another one of his noises, and began lying back, pulling Albus with him. Albus let himself be pulled, climbing over Scorpius.

“Scorp,” he murmured because he couldn’t believe this was happening.

“Yeah,” Scorpius smiled because he seemed to know exactly what Albus meant. Scorpius leaned up, kissing Albus again and Albus let all his thoughts and worries melt away in the feeling of Scorpius’s body.

They lay there kissing, hands exploring each other’s bodies and Albus tried to angle himself so Scorpius wouldn’t be able to feel how hard he was, but as he went to switch support arms he lowered his body too far and…

Albus groaned, dropping his head onto Scorpius’s chest as their hard cocks brushed against each other. His eyes fluttered shut at the sensation as Scorpius rolled his hips.

“Scorp,” he begged because they shouldn’t do this. It was stepping over a line that they couldn’t go back from, but Albus was powerless to resist as Scorpius shuffled underneath him.

This was nothing like it had been with Matty, this was all-consuming pleasure.

“I want it,” Scorpius whispered, tilting Albus’s chin up and kissing him. “I want you,” he said against his lips.

Albus nodded and kissed Scorpius back, letting his cock brush against Scorpius’s through their swim shorts.

Albus’s world narrowed to the feeling of Scorpius writhing underneath him and the soft moans falling from Scorpius’s lips — or was it him moaning? He didn’t know or care as they rutted against each other until Scorpius came, his face scrunching up and his head arched back.

“Fuck,” Albus choked out because Scorpius’s face was enough to tip him over the edge and he came harder than he ever had in his life, then collapsed, boneless and content, on top of Scorpius.

Neither of them moved for a while; they just lay there, Albus’s head buried in the crook of Scorpius’s neck as Scorpius’s fingers traced lazy patterns across Albus’s back.

There was no going back now, not after that.

“Sticky,” Albus murmured, still not able to move. He wished they could use their magic, but the stupid Trace meant they couldn’t. Albus hardly believed that James being two years older meant he was more responsible.

“Agreed,” Scorpius laughed, carding his fingers through Albus’s hair. “Luckily there’s a pool of water there for when you finally get off me.”

“Never getting off you,” Albus said, smiling against Scorpius’s skin.

“Never?”

“Never,” Albus said even though it was a lie, because when the holiday was over they would be back to pretending there was nothing between them.

They’d sit in lessons and pretend they didn’t know what each other’s lips felt like. They’d sit at home with their parents and pretend that they didn’t want each other. Albus would have to live the rest of his life as if he didn’t know what Scorpius looked like when he came.

But they would always have France, they would always have their room and the caves. Their bike rides and ice creams.

It would do. However, all he could wonder was now that he had had Scorpius, how could he ever settle for less?

“ _ I love you, not as a best friend, not as a brother, but as a lover _ ,” Albus wanted to whisper, his lips to Scorpius’s neck. He wanted to bare his soul, but he didn’t. He just lay there in silence, because he could never tell Scorpius he loved him.

Scorpius wanted him, wanted him physically. He didn’t love him. There was no way Scorpius could actually be  _ in love _ with Albus. He was too good for that.

This was just a thing, a brief fleeting thing, but Albus would treasure it for as long as he could.

Albus eventually rolled off Scorpius and slid back into the pool, grateful for the water relieving the discomfort of his sticky swim shorts.

Scorpius turned his head, raising his eyebrow and smirking.

Albus wordlessly offered Scorpius his hand, pulling him into the pool after him.

Scorpius laughed, wrapping his legs around him, kissing him again.

Albus lost himself in Scorpius’s mouth, the water lapping at their sides. It was easy to feel infinite in moments like this.

***

The days continued on, the two of them exploring France, able to act as if they were nothing more than two boys who liked each other.

None of the French locals knew who they were, knew their history or their past. No one judged them, or if they did it was because they were homophobes, rather than because they  _ knew _ .

Rather than because they knew that they were  _ stepbrothers _ , that they had been raised together. That it was slightly wrong, uncomfortable, and that they wouldn’t be accepted.

Albus couldn’t get his thoughts to sit straight, because on the one hand he knew that people would see it as wrong but… but Scorpius wasn’t biologically related to him… it wasn’t incest… he loved Scorpius for Scorpius. It wasn’t  _ wrong _ — how could something wrong be so right?

They weren’t hurting anyone. They weren’t breaking any laws.

And not only that, but actual incest was rife in the wizarding world, so surely what they were doing was fine.

Albus wanted it to be fine. He loved Scorpius, after all.

Albus stretched out his arms on the bed and grinned up at Scorpius, who was above him, his knees either side of Albus’s thighs.

“I’m going to keep these pictures,” Scorpius whispered, pushing a strand of Albus’s hair aside and snapping another picture.

Albus couldn’t wipe the grin off his face as Scorpius leaned back to get more of Albus’s body in the photo.

“They’re just for me,” Scorpius said.

“I should hope so,” Albus said, shuffling his hips.

He loved these mornings where they got to lie in bed because none of the others disturbed them. Everyone was content to get on with their own things, and everything moved slower here.

They were all off in their own worlds, and Albus didn’t want to return to England.

“They’ll be a nice memory,” Albus murmured, frowning as Scorpius’s smile flickered and faded.

“Yeah, a memory,” he sighed. “This has been fun.”

“Yeah, fun,” Albus said, pushing himself up on his elbows as Scorpius climbed off him.

Maybe Scorpius didn’t properly want to remember this in the same way Albus did.

“I’m going to go shower,” Scorpius said, grabbing a towel from the floor and wrapping it around his waist.

“Okay,” Albus said, tugging the sheet higher around himself. “I’ll go after you.”

Scorpius gave him a weak smile before hurrying from the room, leaving Albus to stare after him, unsure what he had said wrong.

He sighed, dropping back down onto the bed and gazing up at the cracked ceiling.

“Al,” James’s voice came through the door.

Albus rolled out of bed. “Yeah?”

“Can I come in?”

“Yeah,” Albus said, throwing open the window and hoping it would hide the smell of spunk. Their room stunk of sweat and sex, and Albus liked it, but he didn’t want James knowing.

James walked into the room. He was in a pair of his running shorts and his hair was curled around the nape of his neck from sweat.

Albus leaned against the wall, offering his brother a smile.

James waved his wand, and Albus’s smile slid off his face.

“What are you doing?”

James held his hand up, locking the door and casting a  _ Muffliato _ .

“James,” Albus said, stepping closer to his brother.

“You’re shagging Scorpius, aren’t you?” James said.

Albus’s face shuttered as he scowled at his brother. “What the fuck?”

“I saw a hickey on his neck as he walked past right now,” James sighed, going to sit down on the bed before wrinkling his nose and choosing to remain standing. It was probably a good idea.

Albus opened his mouth to start arguing, but the look on James’s face stopped him. He’d never seen his brother look serious.

James pointed his wand at the bed and cast a cleaning spell before sitting down. “Fucking hell, Al, how long has this been going on?”

Albus swallowed and sat down opposite James. “A week. We’re going to stop when we get back to England. It’s just for a week.”

“You think it’s that easy?” James scoffed.

“What do you know?” Albus sneered.

James’s face softened and he pulled his legs up, resting his chin on his knees. “I know how it feels.”

“You’re getting with your stepbrother?” He better fucking not be, as they had the  _ same  _ stepbrother.

“No, but I’m shagging our godbrother.”

Albus spluttered and had to grip onto the bed frame to stop himself falling backwards. “Teddy!?”

James ran a hand through his hair and smiled ruefully. “Yeah, I hooked up with Teds around New Year when I went out with him and his friends.”

“Fuck,” Albus muttered. “I didn’t know.”

“No one does,” James said, mouth twitching. “We’ve hooked up a couple of times since, but it’s hard ‘cause of Dad, and the age gap.”

“Fuck,” Albus repeated, laughing as James grinned at him. “What a pair we make. Dad’ll die.”

James shook his head. “I reckon he’d be cooler with it than you think.”

“Me and Scorp, or you and Teds?”

“You,” James said before shrugging, “and hopefully me too.”

_ Hopefully _ .

James had this way of making things sound so straightforward and for a second, Albus let himself believe that Scorpius and him could stand a chance in the real world, outside of the bubble they had created.

“It doesn’t matter,” Albus said with a shrug. “Scorp and I agreed it’s only till we go home.”

“You think you’ll be able to just walk away from it?” James said, raising his eyebrows.

They hadn’t spoken like this in years; they had always been close but Albus had always chosen to turn to Scorpius. However, he couldn’t talk to Scorpius about this.

“I have to.”

“You don’t.”

“He wants to.”

James wrinkled his nose. “Do you know that?”

“He told me,” Albus said, crossing his arms.

James sighed and smiled. “I think you’re wrong.”

Albus shook his head, burying his face into his arms and appreciating the fact James didn’t say anything else. He could hear the sea hitting the shore over and over as they sat there.

The Potter boys. One in love with his older godbrother and the other in love with his stepbrother.

Albus tried to process James’s words, tried to think about the idea of Scorpius wanting this as more than a fling. Scorpius wanting him the same way Albus wanted Scorpius.

“I think I need to go for a walk,” Albus said, heaving himself off the bed.

James nodded, reaching over and squeezing Albus’s hand. “You know I’ve got your back, right?”

“I know, Jamie.”

James smiled, his freckled face filled with genuine love and Albus wondered if he sometimes didn’t give his older brother enough credit.

“I’ll even get rid of the hickey on Scorpius’s neck,” James added.

“Don’t let on you know though,” Albus pleaded, rolling his eyes as James laughed at him. “Thanks, Jamie,” he said, pulling his shorts on before walking out the door. 

He felt simultaneously like a weight had been taken from his shoulders and a new one replaced.

James hadn’t rejected him. James hadn’t looked disgusted or repulsed, or said that Albus was a freak. He’d just been James.

And James thought that Scorpius wanted more. More. Albus could barely process it; he wanted it so badly not to end.

He wanted to see where this went, because he loved Scorpius. He loved him.

***

Albus sat burying his feet into the sand as he stared out at the sea. It was bright blue, reflecting off the sky and shimmering in the sun. Cotton clouds floated on the horizon as the water washed over his toes.

He was in heaven here; it was beautiful and he didn’t want to leave. He didn’t want any of it to end.

He didn’t want Dad to get stressed again from his job, he didn’t want to lose James again at school, and he didn’t want anything less than what he had now with Scorpius. He wanted more even, he wanted commitment.

He wanted this for as long as he could have it.

“Al,” Scorpius’s voice came from behind him.

Albus didn’t say anything, he just wriggled his toes. He’d been stupid to think he could walk away from all this, no matter how complicated it was.

“Al,” Scorpius repeated, settling down in the sand beside Albus, their shoulders brushing. “I spoke to James.”

Albus laughed despite himself. James was about as subtle as a fucking dragon. He buried his hands in the sand, scooping it up and letting it trickle between his fingers. “He wasn’t meant to let on that he knew.”

Scorpius let out a huff of laughter. “I think he semi-tried.”

Albus couldn’t bring himself to look at Scorpius yet. It would hurt too much to look at his face and know that they only had three days. James had given him a flicker of hope and if it was shattered, Albus wasn’t sure he would recover.

“Al, I think we need to speak about this.”

Albus finally looked over, committing the look of Scorpius’s face to memory. “What do you want to say?”

Scorpius swallowed, and Albus tracked the bob of his Adam’s apple. “I don’t know.”

“What do you want me to say?”

Scorpius reached over, entwining their hands, their fingers interlocking. “I want you to say you don’t want this to end.”

“Oh,” Albus said, words abandoning him again. “I can say that,” he managed to say. Scorpius raised his eyebrow and Albus laughed softly. “I don’t want this to end.”

“Me neither,” Scorpius said, “this has been the best week and a half of my life and the thought that in three days it’ll be over…” Scorpius trailed off and shook his head “It kills me, Al.”

“Me too.”

The water swept in washing over their feet as they stared at each other, the pair of them lost for each other.

“I want it all and it’s going to be difficult, but you’re worth it. To me this is worth it,” Scorpius said.

“This is worth everything to me,” Albus whispered, reaching his other hand out and tracing it across Scorpius’s cheek. Scorpius’s leaned into the touch despite Albus’s sandy fingers. “You’re everything to me.”

“Everything,” Scorpius echoed, and he was smiling and Albus was smiling back as they sat there on the beach, the sun shining down on them both. In this moment it didn’t matter what stood in their way, because they had everything they needed in each other.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this and if you did please do let me know!!!
> 
> Comments and kudos fuel my life xoxoxo
> 
> Find me on tumblr [@gracie137blogs](http://gracie137blogs.tumblr.com)


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